Elgin County will be part of a rabies bait drop program that will take place between Aug. 19 and Sept. 6.

The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry will be using an aircraft to drop rabies vaccine baits for wildlife in rural areas and by hand.

In a news release, the ministry said the khaki-green coloured bait is made of wax-fat with a vanilla-sugar flavour. A label with a toll-free telephone number (1-888-574-6656) and “Do not eat” are located on the exterior of the bait and a plastic package containing the liquid rabies vaccine is embedded in the centre.

If found, the bait should not be touched, but left for raccoons, skunks and foxes to consume, says the ministry.

The baits will be distributed in Elgin, as well as Middlesex, Brant, Oxford, Perth and Wellington counties, as well as the regions of Halton, Hamilton-Wentworth, Niagara, Waterloo and Peel.

The ministry said since the start of the rabies outbreak in 2015 – the first of its kind in over a decade – it has taken “quick action to protect communities, distributing over four million vaccine baits from air and the ground to help immunize most raccoons, skunks and foxes that eat them.”

The ministry says its bait drop program is one of the most successful rabies control programs in North America.

It adds that the bait is not harmful to a pet or person if consumed by mistake. But contacting a doctor or veterinarian as a precaution is recommended.

Since 2016, rabies cases have declined in Ontario by approximately 50 per cent annually, according to the release.